In conjunction with todays announcement that the Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) has opened a new certification lab at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA), Quanta QCT has launched the ONIE-compliant QuantaMesh T5032-LY6 Spine/Leaf switch.

ONIE is an industry-standard network boot loader for installing software on network switches. ONIE is the combination of a boot loader and a small Linux operating system for bare metal network switches that provides an environment for automated software download, installation and provisioning.

A high-performance and low-latency layer 2/3/4 Ethernet switch, the QuantaMesh T5032-LY6 uses the open source networking protocols of ONIE and heralds Quanta QCTs leadership in Open Compute-compliant hardware.

The Open Compute Project (OCP) has adopted ONIE as a solution for installing software on network switches in an effort to advance the move to more flexible networking environments in the datacenter. The opening of the ONIE certification lab at UTSA represents a new milestone for ONIE a project that originated as a contribution to the open networking community by Cumulus Networks and Big Switch Networks one year ago, and incubated and adopted by OCP soon thereafter.

Our customers want a standards-based and open source virtual network fabric, said Mike Yang, general manager, Quanta QCT. ONIE is the ideal choice, and we are standardizing on this protocol for our OCP switch lineup. The open revolution that has swept servers and storage can move forward to the switch, supported by open protocols like ONIE and Open Compute, and brought to market by companies like Quanta QCT.

ONIE will expedite the adoption of bare-metal switches by making it easier for users to purchase and deploy standard-based hardware and choose the software they would like to run on it. Moving forward, all Quanta QCT switches will have ONIE pre-installed.

About Quanta QCT

Quanta QCT is a leading provider of server, storage, network switch, and integrated rack products for cloud datacenters worldwide. The companys customers demand the engineering and manufacturing capabilities provided by one of the world's largest hardware companies, but require hardware tuned and optimized to their unique workload specifications. Headquartered in Fremont, Calif., the company's parent is Quanta Computer, Inc., a $29 billion FORTUNE® Global 500 company with more than 100,000 employees located at engineering, manufacturing, sales and support facilities worldwide. http://www.QuantaQCT.com.